SpaceX supply rocket to launch

A rocket built by SpaceX is due to deliver a capsule filled with food,
supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station, its
second private mission into space.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape CanaveralPhoto: NASA

Lift-off of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule from the company's leased launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, just south of NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, was set for 10:10 local time (3.10pm GMT).

Meteorologists predicted an 80 per cent chance of good weather for the launch.

The cargo run will be the second of 12 missions for privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX as the company is known, under a $1.6 billion NASA contract.

Following a successful test flight to the space station in May 2012, SpaceX conducted its first supply run to the orbital outpost in October. A second space freighter, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is expected to debut this year.

NASA turned to private companies to ferry supplies to the Space Station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, following the retirement of its shuttle fleet in 2011.